Report: Key Ferguson Witness Fabricated Testimony To Grand Jury

Sandra McElroy, a key witness to Michael Brown's death, fabricated her story and allegedly lied to officers and the grand jury.

In an investigative report done by The Smoking Gun, McElroy was found to have used internet comments and media reports to create a story that she was a witness to the altercation that led to the death of Michael Brown.

Claiming to have watch the incident unfold in front of her while smoking a cigarette on a nearby sidewalk, McElroy first commented on some Facebook posts before ever talking to police.

In response to a Facebook post questioning the validity of Dorian Johnson's “Hands up” gesture, McElroy wrote, “the report and autopsy are in so YES they were false.” This begs the question: if she witnessed the incident, why would she only invoke the autopsy report to argue that Michael Brown didn't have his hands up? Wouldn't she say what she saw herself?

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Four weeks after the incident, she contacted the police. Officer Wilson's report of what happened was already made public. Weeks later she was interviewed by the FBI. The day before that interview, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a detailed story on what Officer Wilson told investigators. McElroy's story of what she saw mirrored and confirmed what Officer Wilson had said. She is the only witness to echoe Darren Wilson's story that Michael Brown was charging at Wilson before being shot. Prosecutor Robert McCulloch repeatedly invoked her testimony of this detail during his jury announcement. It's highly possible, and even likely, that McCulloch was referring to McElroy's testimony when he said the "most credible eyewitness" said Brown was charging at Wilson before being shot to death.

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The report referred to McElroy as “Witness 40,” until recently when she confirmed she was “Witness 40.”

McElroy, a 45 year old resident of St. Louis, lives 30 miles north of Ferguson. When asked why she was in Ferguson, at first she told police she was visiting a friend she had not seen in 26 years. Later, when testifying for the grand jury, she contradicted herself and said that every couple weeks she likes to visit African American neighborhoods and “will strike up a conversation with an African-American and I will try to talk to them because I’m trying to understand more.”

If this false testimony report is proven true, it won't be the first time McElroy has lied to the police. In 2007, she went to the Kirkwood, Missouri police department and gave a detailed narrative about a then-missing child. Police later discredited her report, saying "We have found that this story is a complete fabrication."

It was also found that by her own admission she is a “racist” and “bipolar” with a history of bankruptcy and civil lawsuits.

Despite all of these red flags, prosecutors allowed her to testify for the grand jury twice. While tesifing, McElroy consistently referred to her spiral journal, reading it word for word at times. Her opening entry was quite prejudicial.

The the validity and integrity of the grand jury process in Fergusonshould certainly be in question. Even if her testimony did not affect the grand juries decision, as they could have pointed to the 59 other witnesses to the event. McElroy should have never been involved due to the obvious fabrication of her story.